Pile weatherstripping is in widespread use in both the automotive and building products industries. Weatherstrip of this type originally was made by forming strips of pile on a backing sheet, either by weaving or by flocking, then applying a resin on the reverse side of the backing sheet, and then slitting the backing sheet between the strips of pile. The resin was typically applied in liquid form, and cooled or cured before the slitting step. If desired, supplemental material, such as fins, may be included and ultrasonically welded in place to form combination weatherstrips.
Advancements in the art resulted in making pile type weatherstripping without first weaving a pile fabric, without flocking, and without the application of a liquid resin. Briefly, yarn that forms the pile is wound on a traveling mandrel or band and is welded while still on the mandrel to backing strips, typically two in number, aligned on opposite sides of the mandrel. The yarn is then parted at locations interdisposed between the backing strips to form two continuous pile weatherstrips. If desired, supplemental material, such as fins, may be included and welded in place simultaneously with the backing strips to form combination weatherstrips. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,851 to Kayser, U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,953 to Horton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,494 to Horton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,382 to Johnson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,451 to Johnson, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,390 to Johnson, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The commercial market for integral fin pile weatherstripping generally desires that the fin extend above the cut pile. Therefore, there exists a need in the art to produce fin above the pile weatherstripping in a continuous, efficient, high yield process, without having to undertake additional steps, such as coining the fin material in an attempt to control registration of the fin material on the band and, ultimately, height of the fin relative to the cut pile.